Entries in Lower East Side
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I find a lot of things to write and post about at TWM by pure accident and this is one of those cases. Years ago when I first moved here and was doing some freelance writing for New York Newsday, I had written about a shop in midtown that only sold accordions. I wondered if it was still in business, so I Googled, “accordions nyc” and while I didn’t find the shop in midtown, I think I found something and someone more interesting. Intrigued? Then come along as I take a little trip to a shop called, Main Squeeze owned by Walter Kühr on the Lower East Side.﻿

And here we are at Main Squeeze on Essex street, love the neon in the window! This shop was opened in May, 1996. Let’s go inside and see what’s happening.

It’s a long, narrow space. I had called Walter in advance to see if it was okay to do this and he told me to stop by. He’s in the back office and told me to take a look around and he’d be out in a little bit. So let’s take a tour of Main Squeeze.

A Main squeeze window poster hangs in the window. It turns out that the woman in the picture is the same woman that got Walter interested in the accordion at the tender age of 6-years-old in his homeland of Germany.

Walter also uses this image on a postcard he sells in the shop, a beautiful photo and a beautiful woman!

I haven’t seen this many accordions in one room since I did my New York Newsday story. The cool thing about accordions is how each one has its own distinctive look and style.

A picture of the orchestra is proudly displayed on the stores wall. Four years ago Walter’s mother was in town celebrating her 80th birthday and the orchestra was playing at the Zipper Factory and they played “Happy Birthday” to her. Walter said it was a great moment for the woman who inspired him to play the accordion as a child.

Here’s the women of the very first orchestra. The Main Squeeze orchestra is truly a dream come true for Walter. I asked him how he thought of such a unique orchestra and he told me he had a dream of 18 women in pigtails and white shirts on a tour bus heading home after a concert. When he woke up he said it was something he new he had to do and he did it. Here’s a picture of the original orchestra from 2002. Since then, he’s pared it down to 14 women, an amazing and unique idea!

There’s lots of cool little items in this display case ranging from an accordion key chain, to tie pins to burlesque playing cards to...

Accordion neckties, I may have to get one of these!

And here’s a portrait of the musician squeezing his true love, the accordion. Walter told me that people shopping online at sites like eBay have hurt his sales and wondered why people don’t like to go out and shop and intermingle with other people. “They don’t know what they’re losing,” he told me and I agree.

He also said that it’s a shame about all the chain stores popping up in New York. One more point I agree with Walter on, I wish there were more unique shops like Main Squeeze around town. I’m glad it’s still there and hope it thrives, stop by and buy a tie if you’re in the neighborhood.

Blue glass found this Cardboard Box Man mutation photo and sent it in along with this message: "Guests found the chimney’s expression unsettling, though Roger insisted upon its benevolence. This turned out to be his undoing." Aaahhhh!

There’s a bar in the Lower East Side that I used to go to a lot called, Motor City Bar. I haven’t been there in quite a while and after seeing that Roger & Me screening on Tuesday, I thought this would be an appropriate week to go and check it out for this week’s happy hour.﻿

Here comes the F train...

And baboom, here we are. There's no sign outside, you just have to know where to go.

Although the door handles do give you a little bit of a clue as to where you are.

And here we are. This place gets packed at night, but it's still the afternoon, so there's plenty of seats to be had.

The bartender was a little shy and didn't want her photo taken, so Lee jumped off his bar stool so I could get a people shot. Lee's a real character and a nice guy. He's a regular at Motor City and has lived in the East Village for over thirty years. Okay, let's take a tour of the bar.

Here's some lit up bottles behind the bar with an "M" made out of wrenches hovering overhead.

Check out the tire table!

An entire wall is covered with this cool black and white painting of a car in action.

Beneath it are actual car seats to put you in a real Motor City mood.

Bare bulbs hang over the bar and illuminate it.

I love the lit up Ford sign on the brick wall in the back room. This has been hanging there since they opened Motor City back in 1996.

And it wouldn't be a true Motor City bar without a giant license plate from the original Motor City: Detroit, Michigan.

This sign made me think of my Canadian friend, Lex. Hi Lex! She may be making an appearance here in June. Stay tuned!